The daily gossip: The Queen breaks her silence on Harry and Meghan's interview, Amal Clooney is not amused by ER, and more

1. Queen Elizabeth vows to 'privately' address Harry and Meghan's allegations

The British royal family has broken its silence on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell interview. Two days after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spoke with Oprah Winfrey, Buckingham Palace released a statement on Tuesday on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II: "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan," the statement said. "The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately." Added the Queen in the statement, "Harry, Meghan, and Archie will always be much loved family members."

Harper's Bazaar The Week

2. Amal Clooney is watching ER and does not approve of her husband's behavior

Amal Clooney may be smitten with her husband, George Clooney, but not so much with his breakout character, the womanizing Dr. Doug Ross on ER. George revealed in conversation with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes on the SmartLess podcast that Amal is streaming the 90s medical drama. "My wife is watching now and it's getting me in a lot of trouble because I'd forgotten all of the terrible things [Ross] was doing picking up on women," George said. Bateman asked if Amal might get starstruck now that she's familiar with his early work, but George shut that down, "Yeah, that's not my wife," he said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Hollywood Life

3. For some reason, Prince Charles picked today for a photo-op with Black health-care workers

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle really did "tell all" when speaking with Oprah Winfrey about their exit from palace life on CBS on Sunday — though both refused to name names when it came to which royal allegedly voiced "concerns" about "how dark" baby Archie's skin was going to be. Viewers nevertheless speculated that the remarks were made by Prince Charles, Harry's father. But go ahead and put that out of your mind, folks, since Charles definitely isn't racist! How can you tell? Because on Tuesday, the Prince of Wales visited the Jesus House in London … where he appeared to only take photos with Black health-care workers and patients. It's certainly just a coincidence that this is Charles' first visit to Jesus House since 2007! There is certainly nothing to read into here!

TMZ The Week

4. It's been a whole year of 'Blinding Lights'

The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" is officially the first song ever to hang out in the top ten of Billboard's Hot 100 for an entire year. The song was released in 2019, joined the top ten in February 2020, and reached No. 1 in April 2020. Fueled by a time-warp pandemic, a TikTok dance, the Super Bowl halftime show, and The Weeknd's release of his greatest-hits album, "Blinding Lights" is sitting at No. 5 as of March 9, 2021. The song also holds the record for longest top five run, with 43 weeks — a record previously held by Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" and "Closer" by the Chainsmokers and Halsey with 27 weeks each. The singer tweeted the news of his year-long reign, writing "beyond blessed." After a Grammy snub, The Weeknd still came out on top.

Vulture

5. Here's who's been cast in the live-action Powerpuff Girls reboot

The Powerpuff Girls reboot has found its sugar, spice, and everything nice. On Tuesday, Deadline reported that the CW has cemented the cast for the pilot of its potentially forthcoming live-action remake of the original Cartoon Network series: Chloe Bennet (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) will play Blossom, Dove Cameron (Descendants) will star as Bubbles, and Yana Perrault (Jagged Little Pill) will play Buttercup. The series reportedly focuses on the superheroes as "disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crimefighting," with Blossom dealing with her repressed trauma, Bubbles "more interested in recapturing her fame than saving the world," and Buttercup trying to leave her Powerpuff Girl identity behind "and live an anonymous life," Deadline writes.

Deadline Variety